Favorite Album Covers

My first at 9 y/o...

Technically not the cover, but the inside gatefold of Alive II was iconic. 

I got to meet Henry Diltz (Henry Diltz Photography) in Tulsa a few months ago...what a trip that guy has been on! He's done a 250+ album covers for 60's & 70's artists and was right in the middle of it all. Woodstock, drug culture, folk, rock, lifestyle, Laurel Canyon, etc. 

I got to talk to him and his friend for a 1/2 hour in a makeshift studio and ask all kinds of questions. It seemed his dad was in the early CIA living in other countries, teaching government to villages using Disney films. No doubt that's how he was able to immerse himself into the counterculture of the 60's.

Radiohead's Kid A album has a treasure trove of artwork in it. I have the CD from the original release dates and it is absolutely stuffed with art. The gatefold book in the front panel barely fits under the tabs because it must be fifteen pages thick - all hand-drawn artwork that looks like it came from a deranged 10 year old: evil-looking stick figures with pointy teeth beating each other up, etc. Years after I first bought the album, I discovered there's another book under the CD tray, hidden from view unless you disassemble the case. It has the album lyrics and then some (I think) sprawled all over it in full caps, covering every possible inch of the paper. Really great artwork.